With every friendship that I made while serving with ACMNP, God gave me a desire to love and care in ways that I was never bold enough to before. There were many encounters where friends would ask me questions about Jesus or religion, or I would be able to share the entire gospel with someone.

It was incredible to be used by God as the first person to share the gospel with someone who had never heard it.

There was one friend in the park who began to treat me poorly as the result of a misunderstanding, and I was particularly hurt by this situation. However, after praying about the situation, I saw this as an opportunity to share the truth with this person. Because of this person’s Islamic background there was little understanding of the concept of grace. I was able to share how God Himself came down as a man and sacrificed Himself for me when I didn’t deserve it, and therefore, I could forgive this friend even though he had treated me poorly. Our friendship was reconciled, and I had many more opportunities to share truths of the gospel with this person.

At the end of the summer, I realized how impactful living out the mission statement of ACMNP was when nearly every person I worked with said that the people who had impacted their lives the most this summer were the people on my team.

I miss life in the park. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, but what makes the park truly special isn’t the incredible hikes or the views that truly take your breath away and leave you at a loss for words – it’s the people you see day after day. Even now that I am gone, I can’t forget the faces of all the people I had the blessing of meeting this summer. I will continue to pray for them, that God may reveal Himself to them and that the seeds planted that summer will grow into a true relationship with Jesus.

Allie H., Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, 2017